Wikipedia:Today's featured article/July 3, 2014

Boenga Roos dari Tjikembang is a 1927 vernacular Malay-language novel written by Kwee Tek Hoay. The book follows a man who leaves his beloved concubine so that he can be married; eighteen years later, he discovers that she had been pregnant, and takes responsibility for his daughter's marriage. The novel has been interpreted variously as promotion of theosophy, a treatise on the Buddhist concept of reincarnation, a call for education, an ode to concubines, and a condemnation of how such women are treated. Inspired by the lyrics to the song "If Those Lips Could Only Speak" and Shakespeare's A Midsummer Night's Dream, the book was written as an outline for the stage drama troupe Union Dalia before being published as a serial in Kwee's magazine Panorama. By 1930 there had been a number of stage adaptations (advertisement pictured) – some unauthorised. The work was filmed in 1931 by The Teng Chun and then in 1975 by Fred Young. Though not considered part of the Indonesian literary canon, the book ranks amongst the most reprinted works of Chinese Malay literature, and is Kwee's most popular publication. An English translation by George Fowler, titled The Rose of Cikembang, was published in 2013.

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